Sanpatong

a used (1995) Audi A4, it only has 65K on the clock

Hmm..

Let me guess: grandma drove it to the temple on Sundays?

WHICH OF THIS 3 PICK UP HAS MORE POWER AND CARGO LOAD BAY?

Cargo load bay is all very similar when comparing the same models. (single/extra/double cab).

Power... All should have plenty.

Really the only thing that sets them apart is resale value, unfortunately. From that point of view you'd go with the D-Max.

If you're going for an extra-cab model (so 2 door but with somewhat of a bench behind the front seats) then do look into the Ford as the side panel opens like a door. This also applies tot the Mazda, and now Nissan as well. Nissan reportedly has torque issues, as it's only a 2.5 liter engine.

If I was buyign a 4 door model then I'd go for the Triton, it looks very nice in 4 door 4WD.

And finally for single-cab model cargo haulers, the only answer is the D-Max.

So there you go.

*EVERYONE* brings such items as carry-on luggage. It'd be pretty silly to put a laptop in a checked bag; screens crack far too easily.

Plus you can use them to hide liquids over 200 ml. Put the laptop on top, they'll notice there's a laptop and ask to rescan the laptop separately.. but the bag is not scanned again..

It works out about the same as Air Asia fares that are booked a bit further ahead.

but, unlike Air Asia, good luck actually finding a 'Wow' fair from Bangkok Air. Eventually I just gave up.

There are hundreds of bars yet the girls still work beach road,Last time I was in Pattaya I had a freelance outside starbucks offer to lick my ar##e I was with the wife it was 8:30 in the morning.

So... did you go for it?

It's interesting by the way how the police/authorities seem to define prostitution exclusively as 'street walking' such as what happens along beach road. Bars, karaokes, discos, they're all completely off the radar.

Make it yourself. It's not that hard once you have good mangos.

Only suggestion otherwise in that area: The night food area at CMU? (Called 'Faai' I think) The fruit shakes also have to be seen to be believed.

Thanks for that!!! I was beginning to suspect this to be the case.. Actually I think it already improved a lot after I further opened the bath overflow-hole (which has a chromium cover that you can screw further open or shut. I guess this allows some air to get in..

Will also do the cesspit thing but as I have guests at the moment I will wait until they leave.

Thanks!!

As for getting to places, there's a lot of baht buses going up and down Jomtien right? So then it would be easy enough to just jump into one to go back up Jomtien beach?

Natural Park Resort - Jomtien

This place is under 1000 baht on the booking sites so I'm not expecting it to be 5 star or anything, but what I'm wondering about is if it's a reasonably well maintained, clean, tidy and friendly sort of place.

This will be for a family holiday, with mum and the kids.

Any other suggestions in the 1000-baht-ish range in the Jomtien or Wong Amat area would be highly appreciated too!! Needs to have a pool and be reasonably close to the beach.

Existing house, 2 storey. Just had the bathroom redone, and very nicely too, new BIG bathtub installed which is all very nice. Except that so much water is draining when emptying the bath that it leads to all kinds of interesting noises on the downstairs bathroom/ floor drain hole, and sometimes even some water coming back up at the ground floor drain hole.

So I'm thinking either pipes need declogging, or there's an issue with the venting system (such as: not having a venting system ) or a cess pit issue.

The people who did the bathroom are very good furniture makers, tilers, painters, designers and so on, but I'm less sure about their plumbing skills. As I know nothing about it as well, I thought to go ask someone who knows about such things.

Anyway,who ever did this, they may cut his balls off.I know this sounds primitive but what else you can wish for such a creep.

To Americans, this doesn't sound primitive at all. In fact he would actually be LUCKY if they just cut his balls off. More likely, they'll cut his head off. Captial punishment is still practised in the US state of Washington, and this individual seems a prime candidate: Prior conviction, non-anglo immigrant, kidnapping, raping and murdering a 12 year old blonde blue eyed girl.. This guy is toast.

And rightly so, if found guilty.

Does anyone know of a decent plumber or plumbing company who would know things like where/how the plumbing system needs to be vented, cess pit issues and the like?

Just to confirm, is this what the whole world except North America calls 'hockey' (field hockey), or some Ice-Hockey derivative?

Famous last words.

No seriously, I think what you're doing is commendable and I do wish you good luck. Just keep the legal costs in check, no use dropping an inflated amount on a legal fee on top of dropping good money on a shoddy car shop.

Anyway, which car shop was this at? One of Charoen Muang's finest no doubt..? Would be good to know which ones not to go to.

My 4-door Ranger seem like that too, not comfortable starting in second even on the flat (there's a pretty big gap between 1 and 2 too) much more car-like.

Yes. Though in this case it's because of the 2.5 liter TurboDiesel engine which really isn't an engine that's suited to a a pick-up or off-road vehicle. So the 2 door cab model with the same engine would also suffer from lack of torque. That engine is great for highway driving, but nothing short of a disgrace when it comes to hauling a load up a trail.

You can find a 4 liter petrol engine on a Thai pick-up?

Anyway, if you're prepared to do a conversion then I would go for petrol if possible. It does mean driving around with a tank in the pickup bed, the weight of which would likely negated the weight saving from not having a diesel engine.

Still, it all hinges on LPG costing just 10-12 baht a liter, vs at least double that for diesel. That's easy math any day.

Claim it, that's why you have insurance!!!!

While for sure a serious claim would influence any discount next year, they ARE sensible about it and if you pay them for example 20K for insurance and they end up losing 3K on a minor touch-up job then they're very aware they just made 17K from you, a cool 17K they will want again next year. So that means having to give you a discount.

It's a bit of a negotiation each year, but we claim EVERYTHING and our position is to leave it up to the insurance guy if he wants our business the next year and usually it turns out that he does, so we get the discount. So far all our claims have been fairly minor.

www.northwheels.com

To be honest, I suspect that a lot of these newbies signing up are actually members of another - less honorable - web-site known for pranks like trying to screw up the count for Thai Visa, so there will be way too much food.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid?

What forum would that be? Anyway if there is a concern of that kind then why not send a bunch of confirmation PMs a week before the event; Chances are anyone newly registered who is not genuine would not stick around to check PMs.

But anyway, let me submit another reason for the high number of new registrations: Some people may have become more than a little notorious, outspoken, even over the limit in their TV posting, so much so that they feel ashamed to actually show up in person. So, they register a new nick to appear all fresh & virgin, rather than everyone knowing "AAAAAAAAA so THAT is Neeranam!!!!!!!!!!" (just an example.

JS Patong

I'm sure people can manage to have a nice party without needing alcohol??

hey welcome aboard ,

where did you park your space ship ??

Rats. All this preparation and I still get found out within minutes after arrival.

But err, guess no free local beer, you suppose this was intentional?

JS Patong

My Isuzu pulls away in third gear just fine.

Actually around town third gear is all I need. I'm saving the other ones for later.

I'm sure people can manage to have a nice party without needing alcohol??

Err, yes. (Wait until they debate hamburgers or pizza again. Suggest you not stick around for that one)

Ok, I'm in.

I thought about bringing my wife and kid, but from the looks of it this is a really massive event and I'm not sure there's even the space for a kids corner or anything. So I'd rather not take chances so it would just be me then.